Daniels looks comfortable in new system
JT Daniels stood behind the fray, helmet on and his hands on his hips, waiting dutifully for his turn.
As a wide-eyed freshman carrying the weight of tremendous expectation, Daniels came into camp a year ago hoping to lay any claim he could on the quarterback position. Now, as a sophomore incumbent, with a convincing claim made over the course of 11 games last season, Daniels stood in a not-so-different position Tuesday, watching closely as each of USC’s three other quarterbacks, fighting for the job he once held, took equal reps at the helm ahead of him.
The order in which the Trojans quarterbacks took their places under center mattered less than the principle of their arrangement. Daniels, who came to USC as the nation’s top-rated quarterback recruit, is still expected to become the starter. Until that decision is officially made, however, the directive to USC’s quarterbacks during camp has been that the competition among them is wide open, and the reps will remain equal.
As strange as that arrangement might seem on the surface, it’s just fine with Daniels.
“[Coach Clay Helton] said it at the beginning of spring, and he’s maintained his position,” Daniels said. “Everybody on the team is up for competition. There’s a lot of new coaching. It feels like there’s a whole new culture change with the team. You have to compete every day.”
Helton suggested at Pac-12 media day that USC might use every practice available to it ahead of the season before naming a starter.
But Graham Harrell, USC’s new offensive coordinator, noted Tuesday that the offense probably can’t afford a quarterback competition dragging on quite that long.
“You’ll let them compete for a while, though,” Harrell said. “We’re four practices in. When you’ve only gone four practices, you have a limited amount of film to go on. We have to figure out who’s going to be playing best come Aug. 31. Obviously, you’re going to make a decision on who the guy is before that point.”
Right now, that appears to be Daniels, who coaches and teammates have suggested looks “more relaxed” in Harrell’s wide-open, up-tempo offense.
Daniels himself said that his understanding of USC’s new, simplified offensive system has grown substantially since the spring.
But as a competition continues on for the foreseeable future, Harrell and the rest of USC’s staff have challenged Daniels to do more than simply grasp the offense. In the spring, Helton and Harrell told Daniels that he needed to prove himself further as a leader.
Of all the quarterbacks, Daniels “probably had the most room to improve” in that regard, Harrell noted, “but he’s probably taken the biggest steps in that aspect.”
Daniels isn’t the only quarterback who’s taken a noticeable leap since the spring. Big-armed, early enrollee Kedon Slovis has turned heads over the first week of camp. If his impressive performance continues, it’s possible Slovis could have a chance to move up the depth chart — perhaps even past more experienced options in sophomore Jack Sears and redshirt junior Matt Fink.
“He’s been throwing darts,” Harrell said of the freshman, who gained 15 pounds between spring practice and fall camp. “That’s the Kedon we saw all spring. He’s got a special arm. He can make throws that a lot of people can’t make.”
The same could be said for Daniels, who had his share of picturesque throws again Tuesday.
Steele cleared
After a dizzying recruitment saga that led him first to commit to USC, then sign with Florida, then ultimately transfer back to USC after a brief commitment to Oregon, five-star cornerback recruit Chris Steele’s waiver to play this season has been approved by the NCAA.
NCAA rules usually require a transferring player to sit out a year before being eligible. But the circumstances of Steele’s transfer, which his father told The Times in June was not because of football reasons, were apparently reasonable enough for the NCAA to approve him for immediate eligibility.
USC is still awaiting word on whether Bru McCoy ,a consensus five-star recruit from Santa Ana Mater Dei, will also have his transfer waiver approved by the NCAA. McCoy has yet to practice with the team, as he deals with an illness.
The circumstances involved in both high-profile transfers differ greatly. Steele sought his transfer from Florida because of the school’s mishandling of a situation involving his roommate, Gators quarterback Jalon Jones, who was accused of sexual battery by two female students. Steele, according to his father, requested a new living situation but was denied.
McCoy signed with USC in January before opting to transfer to Texas. After practicing the entire spring in Austin, McCoy chose to transfer again, back to USC, because of homesickness.
Whether the NCAA decides to draw the line with McCoy, given the nature of his transfer, remains to be seen. His chances of being granted a waiver from the NCAA are believed to be much slimmer than Steele’s.
Steele, who starred at Bellflower St. John Bosco, is a huge addition for a young USC secondary that is wide open. After spending the spring in Florida, Steele has been practicing with the team since camp began as he awaited word from the NCAA.
Iosefa out
Senior linebacker Jordan Iosefa dislocated his patella and suffered cartilage damage in his knee, Helton said. Iosefa had surgery Tuesday and is expected to miss at least four to six weeks.
Judging by Helton’s reaction, the prognosis could have been much worse.
“He’s one of the warriors of our team,” Helton said. “I’m very happy for him.”